Harare — THE much talked about documentary, Gukurahundi: A Moment of Madness had its Harare debut screening last week to both acclaim and criticism.

Zenzele Ndebele, the producer of the gripping documentary is a 30-year-old journalist and film producer with a passion for defending human rights.

His latest video, which is now available locally following its release in South Africa and Botswana last year documents the 1980s massacres in the Midlands and Matabeleland where an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians were butchered by the North Korean-trained 5 Brigade.

The documentary is powerful in telling the story that most filmmakers and journalists have shunned since the killings ended with the signing of the Unity Accord between Zanu PF and PF Zapu in 1987.

The 50 minutes of riveting footage, supported by narrations of victims -- terrifying in its desire to capture the mind and provoke thoughts -- left local journalists who watched it at the Quill Club in stunned silence.

But in its brave attempt to open debate on this important historic event, the documentary was let down by poor video shooting and sloppy mistakes in its English subtitles.

As a director you have to hone your on-camera interviewing skills so that the result sounds very natural and true to the life you are portraying.

During the interviews, the camera operator forgot the biggest rule in making a good video - that is to adjust the shots to emphasise the emotions of the moment.

The subject matters in documentaries of this nature. An effort was made in trying to interview the subjects in their natural environment but sometimes the interviews involving different people were conducted in the same location.

An example is that of an interview of a man who is describing how soldiers shot him three times in the arm.

You cannot make out his face. How the cameraman could not zoom on his face to evoke the powerful emotions he was portraying boggles the mind.

The temptation would be to say this was a low-budget production therefore the equipment could not allow for quality.

I would argue that some of best productions have been made using digital cameras or even a N95 Nokia phone.

I would also have wanted the interviewer to be more aggressive when he spoke to Enos Nkala, who as Defence Minister was allegedly involved in planning and executing Gukurahundi.

This could have been easier as there was video evidence in the documentary of him forcing two "dissidents to confess".

Nkala was let off the hook. He should have been pressed to explain the footage.

But where it lacks in video quality, the harrowing stories told through the victims about the brutality that prevailed when the North Korean- trained soldiers killed at will was captivating.

Archive footage shows President Robert Mugabe promising to "crush completely" the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo and PF Zapu whom he accused of sponsoring the "dissidents".

Then some of the so-called "dissidents" who survived the atrocities reveal the ordeals they were put through.

One man describes scores of youths being pushed down a mineshaft. Anyone who resisted was shot on the spot.

The mine-shaft was filled to the brim with bodies, and a second one was needed for the killings to continue.

Another interviewee describes how, as a young boy, he was ordered to set fire to a house in which soldiers had locked his whole family.

But when the soldiers left a storm swept through the area and the people inside the hut were saved.

Commenting on the challenges he faced in coming up with the documentary Ndebele said: "Of those who agreed to talk, several changed their minds afterwards. They would call and ask me to leave them out."